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Failed Edmonton Oilers Trade From the NHL Draft Leaked Publicly by Frank Seravalli

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Jack Sutherland | Last updated Jul 6, 2025 8:28 PM ET

A failed trade attempt by the Edmonton Oilers to acquire highly-touted prospect Isaac Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning has been revealed by analyst Frank Seravalli.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are attempting to trade former Hobey Baker Award winner and 2022 1st round pick Isaac Howard, but haven't been able to find a deal that is feasible to both sides.

What are the chances that the was close to being on the move to Alberta?

NHL analyst Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff recently said that the Oilers were thought by many around the League to be close to acquiring Howard during the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, but that their reported trade offer was rebuffed.

There are many people around the league who thought that the Oilers were getting Isaac Howard. I think even people close to Isaac Howard thought that he was going to Edmonton. I don't know exactly what the Tampa Bay Lightning are thinking.
To my understanding, (The Oilers) had told Tampa that they could (give them) a late first-round pick in exchange for Howard's rights, and that apparently wasn't good enough.

With the Michigan State Spartans this year, Howard had 52 points (26G, 26A) in 37 games.

Lightning GM Julien BriseBois also recently spoke about the 'tricky' situation, as a deal hasn't been able to come about that either side is satisfied with.

We don't have anything right now. It's tricky, because the teams that are willing to offer me something that I would think would be worthwhile for our organization and actually makes us better and fits with the plan we have for our organization, they haven't been able to agree to a contract with Isaac. And the teams that he feels he can get a deal done with have not been able to get a deal done with me.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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